Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Southern California Fires Hit the Jazz Community
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
Musicians, fans and friends are organizing special concerts and a fund drive to help pay for the relocation and buildout of new storefront space for Fred Anderson’s Velvet Lounge in Chicago’s South Loop. Its current location is scheduled for demolition to make way for a private, high-rise tower. The new space is planned around the corner and within sight of the old location, and will include many artifacts from the old club. The new location will include better sightlines in a column-free stage and seating area, new restrooms, and a storage room for musicians’ gear. Private supporters have set the goal of raising more than $100,000 in private contributions.
Performers for an upcoming fundraising concert include: Edward Wilkerson; David Boykin Expanse; The Gam Squad; Tatsu Aoki; Douglas Ewart; Dennis Winslett; Jabari Liu; Malachi Thompson; Corey Wilkes; Dan Godston; Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble; Dushun Mosley; Isaiah Spencer; Michael Zerang; Isaiah Jackson; Rob Pleshar; and additional guests. Tickets are $20 for the show, which is May 27 at the Velvet Lounge.
Contributions may be made to the relocation and buildout project through the Velvet Lounge web site, www.velvetlounge.net.
Gerald and John Clayton at the family home in Altadena during a photo shoot for the June 2022 cover of DownBeat. The house was lost during the Los Angeles fires.
Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
“She said, ‘A lot of people are going to try and stop you,’” Sheryl Bailey recalls of the advice she received from jazz guitarist Emily Remler (1957–’90). “‘They’re going to say you slept with somebody, you’re a dyke, you’re this and that and the other. Don’t listen to them, and just keep playing.’”
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In the April 1982 issue of People magazine, under the heading “Lookout: A Guide To The Up and Coming,” jazz…
The Old Country: More From The Deer Head Inn arrives 30 years after ECM issued the Keith Jarret Trio live album At The Deer Head Inn.
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As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.
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If only because openings for JLCO’s 15 permanent positions appear about as frequently as sub-freezing days on the…
“The first recording I owned with Brazilian music on it was Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer,” says Renee Rosnes. “And then I just started to go down the rabbit hole.”
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In her four-decade career, Renee Rosnes has been recognized as a singular voice, both as a jazz composer and a…
